Translator: CinderTL
"A red veil?" Shen Mengyun mused.
Fatty nodded vigorously. "That's right, that's the one!"
He explained, "I definitely didn't see wrong. I just glanced over casually and saw it. But when I realized something was off and looked back, it was gone."
No one doubted Fatty had seen something. Moreover, Jiang Cheng noticed Fatty had said he saw a person, not a statue.
Based on the description—red clothing, squatting in the corner, facing inward, only the back visible—the person's identity wasn't hard to guess.
It was the male teacher who had died tragically here.
Perhaps he didn't mean to harm them, Jiang Cheng thought. After all, he was a victim too.
If they could contact the male teacher, they might gain unexpected insights.
"If it's a blessing, it's not a curse; if it's a curse, you can't escape it," Jiang Cheng said, turning to Fatty and the others in a low voice. "Stay here and don't move. I'll go check it out."
"You alone?" Fatty's face was etched with worry.
"And me," Wang Qi stepped forward, nodding slightly at Jiang Cheng. "I'll go with you."
"Alright."
The two agreed to flank the area, one on each side, ensuring that anything hiding nearby would be flushed out.
Just then, Shen Mengyun's expression changed. Her body trembled uncontrollably as she pointed towards a spot near the corner.
Jiang Cheng and Wang Qi had been focused on their conversation, their attention diverted from the corner.
"What's wrong now?" Huai Yi was startled by Shen Mengyun's unusual behavior.
"I... I saw it! Right there! Someone's hiding there!" Shen Mengyun stammered, her voice trembling as she regained her composure.
Jiang Cheng took her hand to calm her down. "What did you see, Miss Shen?" he asked, soothing her while keeping a watchful eye on their surroundings. It seemed the situation here was more complex than he had anticipated.
"Someone's hiding there, behind the curtain! There really is someone!" Shen Mengyun clutched Jiang Cheng's arm, her other hand trembling as she pointed towards a spot about two meters from the corner.
A wall-sized dark curtain had been installed there, a common arrangement in many exhibition halls.
"Behind the curtain?" Jiang Cheng asked, his gaze fixed on the fabric. "If it was behind the curtain, Miss Shen, how did you see the person?"
"Below! A pair of bare feet peeked out from under the curtain!" Shen Mengyun insisted. "They were bare, and I saw them clearly. There was blood on them."
The bottom edge of the curtain hung just under ten centimeters above the floor. Jiang Cheng peered through the gap, but saw nothing.
Wang Qi lowered his gaze and turned to Shen Mengyun, his tone strange. "Miss Shen, you concluded someone was behind the curtain just from seeing a pair of feet? Is that right?"
Shen Mengyun looked at Wang Qi, her expression a mixture of shock and fear. "Isn't... isn't that enough?"
Jiang Cheng seemed to understand Wang Qi's point and explained, "Miss Shen, it's not that it's not enough, but could you provide any other clues?"
He paused, then added, "For example, what was the shape of the curtain at the time? If someone was standing behind it, there should have been a bulge, a human silhouette. Can you imagine that?"
Jiang Cheng's acceptance of Shen Mengyun had improved significantly. After a moment, she shook her head. "I don't remember clearly, but I don't think so. I only saw a pair of feet—the feet under the curtain. They were pressed together, very white, and stood out against the dark curtain."
Ignoring Shen Mengyun, Wang Qi immediately pulled out his iron hook. According to their plan, he would flank from the left while Jiang Cheng approached from the right.
Though this was their first time working together, their coordination was flawless. Their speed and pace were nearly identical, making Huai Yi truly believe they had met before, perhaps even trained together.
Jiang Cheng and Huai Yi finally converged two meters in front of the curtain.
One held the hook aloft, the other a sickle. They moved simultaneously, ripping open the heavy curtain.
Behind it was a wall, an unbroken expanse of solid stone, without even a window.
It seemed the curtain was merely decorative.
"Phew," they exchanged glances, both letting out sighs of relief.
But as they turned to leave, Jiang Cheng's gaze froze. His blood seemed to turn icy in his veins.
The space in the center of the hall was now completely empty.
Fatty, Huai Yi, and Shen Mengyun had all vanished.
Right here in the Sculpture Hall, not far behind them, three living people had disappeared without a sound.
"Damn it," Wang Qi cursed under his breath, his eyes darting around, clearly as shocked as Jiang Cheng by this turn of events.
They'd been careless.
Jiang Cheng had found it strange earlier. Logically, if someone like him and Wang Qi hadn't noticed anything amiss, why had Fatty and Shen Mengyun seen something?
It was obvious: the enemy had lured their main force away to investigate, then targeted the remaining weak and vulnerable.
Fatty and the others were likely in serious trouble.
But it was too late to dwell on that now. Jiang Cheng turned to Wang Qi and said quickly, "I need to find them first. If we delay, it could be too late."
He wasn't sure whether Wang Qi would prioritize helping him find the missing people or completing the mission. After all, the man didn't seem like the type to be easily persuaded.
To his surprise, however, Wang Qi seemed even more panicked than Jiang Cheng after discovering the disappearances. He gripped his iron hook tightly, his sharp eyes scanning every corner as if he were determined to dig up the earth itself to find them.
"Find them!" he rasped, his voice hoarse.
"Alright."
This time, neither dared to separate. Jiang Cheng led the way, with Wang Qi bringing up the rear. They stayed close, almost touching, relying on each other for support.
They retreated, retracing their steps along the path they had entered. This time, they focused their search on the nearby sculptures. At first glance, they seemed ordinary, but up close, they exuded an indescribable eeriness.
Their hollow eyes seemed poised to focus at any moment.
Returning to the gate of the Sculpture Hall, Jiang Cheng immediately sensed something amiss. After they had entered, the gate had closed automatically, startling Fatty at the time.
Jiang Cheng remembered it clearly.
But now... one half of the gate was open a crack, about a third of the way. The opening was just large enough for a person to squeeze through sideways.
The mere thought of such a scene flashing through his mind was terrifying. A sense of foreboding washed over Jiang Cheng.
Something had quietly followed them in.
Who could it be?
No, the question should be: What could it be?
A Heart-Corroding Demon?
Or perhaps the Bandit Ghost from this Sculpture Hall mission?
As Jiang Cheng pondered, his gaze swept across the surroundings. Several statues stood nearby, which they had examined upon entering. They seemed ordinary enough, just regular sculptures.
But when Jiang Cheng's gaze drifted slightly upward, about to exhale out of habit, his eyes suddenly froze.
The breath caught in his chest, choking him.
Cold sweat trickled down his forehead. The statue before him was a half-body statue of a woman, her right arm raised high, cradling a bird in her palm.
Her face tilted slightly upward, but her eyes—they seemed to have gained a life of their own—drooped downward, fixedly staring at him.
(End of the Chapter)
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